Part 21
﴿سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ﴾
“We will soon show them Our signs in the Universe and in their own souls, until it will become quite clear to them that it is the truth.”
Inner signs are indeed amazing
Divine Signs means the exhibition of the Might and an argument or evidence leading to the Unseen Knower of the hidden, the Might Creator of the skies and the earth. A human being has both outer and inner signs of God. One of the inner or personal signs: One of His signs is your sleep at night. This is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an at a number of places. One of the signs of God’s might is your sleep, which shows and makes you understand that things are not in your control. One cannot hold one self from taking nap.
If you can, keep sleep away from you two days and nights. Can you do it? Then say: I am helpless. It is not in my power.
So that you may know that you have God and that you are ruled by Him. Do not say: I can do everything. Has any creation like you, created you? Do you know how many veins and bones you have in your body? How many of your blood capillaries are active and how many tranquil? Are you aware as to how many workshops exist within your body?
The created did not know about the Creator
It is narrated that in the days of Imam Sadiq there appeared an imposter who was denying God. For proving his point he said, “You say that God is the creator but I say that I am also a creator.” Then he poured some water in a bottle. Mixed a little dust and dirt with it.
After some days there appeared some worms in that bottle. With utter shamelessness he proclaimed, “The worms in this bottle are created by me.” Some fools believed in his claim. There are some people who accept whatever claim one makes before them. Some people informed the holy Imam about this impostor who claimed to be the creator; that he says: God creates life in the womb of a mother after six months but I give a living insect to you within a few days.
The Imam said, “Tell him, ‘We want to ask you two questions about what is in the bottle. If your answer these two questions we will support your claim.’ First: What is the number of these things ‘created’ by you? It is necessary that the creation must be under the control of the creator. Since you claim to have created these worms they must do as you order. They are moving in this direction. Ask them to move the other way.” So he was asked like this. He kept quiet for a while and thought and then said, “What have you to do with their number, you can see what I have created.” People said, “You are a strange creator who does not know how many things he has created. Well, now order them to move this way instead of that.” He said, “It is not in my power. They move themselves.”
Waking up when he wants
This sleep, which overtakes you, O intelligent one! Have you ever thought and pondered over it? This sleep shows that the management of my life and my body is not in my control. Nothing is in my hands; that I do have a Master. My sleep is in His hands. My awakening is also not in my control. Does everyone who sleeps wake up at the time of his choice?
As it is not in your power, if you want to get an hour after midnight, you cannot do so. Some of you cannot take their predawn meal. It is a sign of your being subservient to someone. You must realize that nothing is under your control. Why then are you so negligent about God Who controls everything of yours? You remain stuck to your own self and with other creations (created things) like you since you are unmindful of God who also controls and manages your own sleeping awakening. How many die in sleep, which means that when you were asleep your soul got distanced from you (your body) but then it did not return. In such a case one’s sleep joins with death. The one whose death has not arrived, his or her soul returns to the body as ordered by God.
﴿اللَّهُ يَتَوَفَّى الأَنْفُسَ حِينَ مَوْتِهَا وَالَّتِي لَمْ تَمُتْ فِي مَنَامِهَا فَيُمْسِكُ الَّتِي قَضَى عَلَيْهَا الْمَوْتَ وَيُرْسِلُ الأُخْرَى إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى﴾
“Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep; then He withholds those on whom He has passed the decree of death and sends the others back till an appointed term…”
Well, if the faithful believers desire to wake up from their sleep at a particular hour they also should seek it. If one wants to wake up after pre-dawn meal during Ramadhan or for any other good deed he should recite the last verse of Surah Kahf and then go to sleep.
﴿قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُكُمْ يُوحَى إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلاً صَالِحًا وَلا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَداً﴾
“Say: I am only a mortal like you; it is revealed to me that your god is one God, therefore whoever hopes to meet his Lord, he should do good deeds, and not join anyone in the service of his Lord.”
This verse is indeed a miracle. A number of great men have experienced its miraculous properties. It is written that if one says that once I tried but could not wake up at the desired time, he makes a mistake. Do trust that he did wake up at that moment but as he was sluggish he slipped in sleep again.
I want to bring to your notice today some signs pertaining to our inner physical being. The Holy Qur’an says about sleep. It is mentioned that it is not in man’s control. Then in whose control is it? The One Who has created me and controls my each and everything. One must ponder over sleep for some hours in the day and night. If you do not sleep, you are forced to sleep. You get into a slumber. The wisdom behind sleep is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an: We have made sleep a means of rest and continuance of life for you. Arabic word “Sa ba ta’’ means a break and rest. When awake, how much work does this body do?
These deeds or works are both outer and inner. There are involuntary or forced functions like the machinery of digestion and nourishment etc in addition to those voluntary actions that man performs with this body like talking, walking handling, seeing, hearing. The daytime engagements compulsorily bring tiredness. If one works continuously for 24 hours his body does not remain useful for him. So he must take rest for a few hours. If one, after he wakes up in the morning toils continuously till past midnight his body becomes loose. He must indeed take some rest for renewal of his strength. The more tired the body, the more sleep you need. So sleep overtakes you perforce. You must have experienced that after taking some sleep you become fresh for work.
Therefore it is desirable that man must, after waking up from sleep make a prostration for thanking God. He should say: Thanks to God I have become alive again.
“Sleep is the brother of death” It means sleep is like death. During sleep all the faculties of sense go away. What remains is only natural (involuntary) functions like breathing, digesting, growing. A man asleep is no different from a dead person in the matter of sensing. The soul got distanced from the body but not completely distanced. It retains an attachment to the body. It is therefore desirable that a faithful person prepares his shroud cloth before going to sleep. Perhaps you may not wake up. Perhaps your end has arrived. One should also make a will before going to bed. One must make preparations.
Dreams: Samples of reward and punishment in Grave
Another related point is found in Usul al-Kafi where it is mentioned that dream or vision during sleep was not there at the time of creation in the beginning. A messenger told his people about life in grave (in Barzakh – between Death and Resurrection), questioning in grave, divine reward and chastisement etc. People said, “We do not believe this.” They said, “How can a dead person answer any question? Man becomes dust and gets annihilated.” Then God gave dreaming (seeing visions in sleep) to these people. Everyone began to see dreams. They saw different and unprecedented visions. They went to one another and said, last night I saw some things but when I woke up there was nothing of the kind. Another said, “I have seen something higher than that, but when I woke up I could find nothing of it.” Their Prophet told them, “Almighty God wanted to make you understand that it is possible that man gets rewards but this body may be in dust in a very long sleep. It is also possible that one may be under punishment and therefore wailing.”
It is mentioned in Maniul Akhbar that the Holy Prophet said, “Before I was declared a Messenger, I used to graze sheep. Sometimes I saw the sheep jump up without there being any incident or cause. They stood still and even stopped grazing.” He said, “I asked Jibraeel the reason for their behavior.” Jibraeel said, “Whenever a cry is raised in the world of grave all beings excepts jinn and men, hear that wailing. These animals get frightened by the screams of those who undergo divine punishment.” The Lord of the Worlds has, by way of his high wisdom, made these shrieks inaudible to living men and jinns so that their pleasures may not be disturbed.
The dead appeal to the living
If man hears the shrieks and screams of his dead relatives he will no more be able to live in this world. It is the wisdom of God that the living should not know the condition of the dead. Now only God knows what shrieks and screams are rising from the dead and what requests they are making to us. Tonight, which is the Night of Power (Lailatul Qadr) they seek prayers to God from us in their favor. These requests are not like what we ask from one another. The appeal and request from the dead is like beseeching and begging.
According to a narration, the Holy Prophet once wept and said: Be kind to the dead, especially in the month of Ramadhan. The dead ones say: We also had the months of Ramadhan and also the Nights of Power but we did not appreciate their value. They slipped away from our hold, but you still have the month of Ramadhan. So please take care of us also and think about us too.
They entreat in such a heart-rending manner that it made the Prophet weep.
Sometimes a man sees frightening dreams and hears the cries also but one who is near him does not hear or sees anything. Sometimes he laughs so loudly due to happiness that had he been awake his laugh could have been heard from a long distance. But the one who is beside him does not understand anything of it. When you go to your father’s grave you do not hear any voice. But only God knows in what condition the poor one is at the moment, or God-willing, in what delightful condition of happiness. – Insha Allah.
Visions or dreams are because of the divine wisdom that man may be able peep into the world after death and to know what is going to happen after death to him.
Surrounding by the soul is a sample of surrounding by God
One of the signs concerning human body by which intelligent people can know about God’s limitlessness and never ending powers is the surrounding by soul. Of course everyone understands in proportion to his intelligence. Look at the different organs of our body from head to foot. If you want to count them the number may reach millions. The soul surrounds or encircles all of them. (God is the greatest!)
Do not imagine that your soul is in your head or in your heart. It is not like this. It is neither within the body nor out of it. The encirclement of soul is indeed amazing. Put your hand at any part of your body, the soul is there. It is both positive and negative. It is not in the body. It also is not out of it. This is one of the finest (most delicate) things. Have you not experienced that sometimes if a thread or a strand of hair enters your mouth along with food it is at once detected and you push it out. Such signs pertaining to your body are there to make you realize that God encircles and covers each and every thing and affair.
﴿اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ وَمِنْ الأَرْضِ مِثْلَهُنَّ يَتَنَزَّلُ الأَمْرُ بَيْنَهُنَّ لِتَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَحَاطَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عِلْمًا﴾
“Allah is He Who created seven heavens, and of the earth the like of them; the decree continues to descend among them, that you may know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah indeed encompasses all things in (His) knowledge.”
The specimen or example is your own soul. O Man! If a snake bites at your foot, your soul knows of it at once. If a thin hair enters the body… If you ponder over the power of remembrance or learning by heart, it is unfathomable. How many things are stored in your brain!
Different engagements do not restrain the soul
A speaker speaks with his tongue and delivers the thoughts, which are in his mind. A common perception does the job through the eye. He opens his eyes and sees you. My eye recognized you. As regards the ears, now I am hearing the voices of some of you though I am speaking through the loud speaker. Yet my tongue, which talks is not interrupting my ears. Ears also hear every voice. If there is irritation in a part of my face I know about it at once. The sense of touch continues to function.
These are the aspects of sensing. At the same time, inside the body, the stomach, intestines and kidneys function simultaneously. Liver also works side by side. It is mentioned in modern medicinal science that kidney does twelve jobs at a time. One of them is purification of blood. Heart functions each second and purifies blood. It has four compartments. Impure blood enters two compartments and purified blood goes out of the other two compartments. This coming and going purifies blood. The whole of this machinery is busy nonstop. No function restrains the soul from other jobs.
This is a specimen of God’s immeasurable and limitless encirclement of affairs, every second, from earth to sky, in every part of the earth, on it and under it. He hears every sound. It is not that one sound prevents Him from hearing other sounds. Same is the case of providing sustenance. It is reserved for everyone. Giving provision to one does not prevent Him from giving it to others. Management of one planet, sphere or globe does not restrain Him from directing affairs in another worlds.
You see in Dua Jaushan Kabir: “O He – doing one thing does not prevent Him from doing other things simultaneously”. He never errs. He does not give something to one instead of to other nor one thing for another. One says: My God! I am hungry, I want bread. Another says: I am thirsty and want water. He does not make any mistake in fulfilling their needs. He does not give food instead of water and vice versa. The example of errorless functioning can be seen within your own bodies.
Self of Ali is the biggest sign of self-related signs
May I be sacrificed for Ali. Yesterday I talked about signs in nature. Today I will speak regarding signs related to the inner body. Ali is the Great Sign. The matter is about the encircling done by Ali. All human souls on one side and the soul of Ali on the other. It will be correct if I say that the self or soul of Ali is fully divine and all other souls are partially. Soul of Ali is encompassing all. The mention of a miraculous event will make you understand this to some extent. Then you also will be able to follow what is the total encirclement that God Almighty has.
Angels seek fragrance
First, a meeting, which is arranged for remembering Ali and in which there is a description of Ali’s virtues, is encircled by angels. After it is over they (angels) rise up to the heavens taking with them a pleasing fragrance. Other angels over there envy them and ask, “From where did you bring this fragrance?” The angels reply, “From the earth. There was a gathering discussing the virtues of the Lion of God, that is, Ali bin Abi Talib. We brought this scent from there.” The other angels say, “Let us also go there.” The angels say, “Alas, that meeting has ended. Yet you may go and touch the walls of that hall because the effects of the scent of the name of Ali are still there.” Let us hope that, God willing we also take this fragrance to our graves.
Ali faced the army alone
Sayyid Bahraini, in his book, Madinatul Ma-ajiz, says: In the battle of Siffin, for eighteen months, Muawiyah along with the devilish and fox-like Amr bin Aas and his satanic Syrian forces, fought with the soldiers of Allah’s Wali (Friend), Ali. Muawiyah prearranged his troops numbering twenty-five thousand men in such a manner that they were fully trained and ready for the battle. All arms were provided for them as well as other necessities of war. Their armors were of steel from head to foot. The only opening was for two eyes to see. He anticipated no retreat for his army and hoped to wipe out the army of Ali. Thereafter, they also gave a name to their army – “Lashkar-e-Kutaibah”. Then they suddenly announced that the notorious army had come to fight. Soldiers on Ali’s side once trembled.
Seeing the condition of the enemy troops no one had the courage to step forward and counter them. Whoever went forward was killed as no sword was effective on those steeled troops. Then all of a sudden, Ali came out of the column and emboldened his men. He said, I tell you that this army of Kutaiba, army of Muawiyah is nothing. No one of you has a right to budge from his place.” He took his sword Zulfiqar in his hand and crashed through the enemy lines though there were a thousand or more men in every line. Ali, in short, mowed them down so fiercely that they were compelled to retreat. Ali also followed them until they fled and reached the tent of Muawiyah. He was hoping to see his own army victorious and the army of Ali, uprooted. But he saw that many of his men were killed and those who remained alive came back to him hanging down their heads.
Muawiyah told them, “Woe unto you. Who made your condition like this? Were Ali’s troops many times more than you?” They replied, “We never saw the army of Ali at all. Ali was constantly seen zooming on our heads, attacking us with Zulfiqar. Just know that whoever has been killed has been killed only by Ali’s sword. Whoever was hit by spear, it was Ali’s spear that hit our men. Anyone who was pierced by an arrow, that arrow also was shot only by Ali.” Muawiyah said, “Ali has no arrows.” They said, “By God! We do not know how it all happened. Ali was sometimes using the sword, sometimes spear and sometimes arrows. Sometimes on this one’s head and sometimes on that one’s.”
At the bedside of thousands, every moment
Ali appeared at thousands of places. The soul or spirit is one but it is fully divine, it is all encompassing or all covering and all encircling, able to become manifest wherever desired. As interpreted by Allamah Majlisi, it is possible that, at every moment. Thousands of people may be about to die and Ali may be present at their bedside. Doubtlessly he appears there with the same facsimile body. This power and encirclement given by God to him enables him to fight with many people at one time and he can also use the sword, the spear and the arrow, all at the same time. Say: He is the “demonstrator of strange things” (Mazharul Ajaaib) and “the demonstrator of the extraordinary” (Mazharul Gharaaib). His surrounding is beyond our imagination and we cannot know how it happens. You and I are parts; Ali is the whole. He can cover the entire world.
One night Ali was a guest at forty places. As per a narration, Jibraeel said, “O Messenger of Allah! Last night Ali was with us at this place and also at that place.” This is surrounding or encirclement.
Ali with his own bier
Like the instance mentioned yesterday, when before the call for Morning prayers, they moved the mortal remains of our Master, Ali and when Imam Hasan and Abi Abdullah were behind the bier it rose up by itself, Angels Jibraeel and Mikaeel held the front and Hasan and Husain were behind. They brought the bier out of the house. Zainab, Umme Kulthum and the remaining women also wanted to accompany but Husain did not allow and said, “All of you may return and be calm.” This narration is authentically related from Imam Hasan: As we approached Najaf, a rider whose fragrance drew my attention, but who was masked said: You are Hasan, the elder son and you are the legatee of this master? Imam Hasan says, “Yes, I am.” He asked again, “Is this Husain ‘Abul Aimmah’ (Father of Imams)?” He said, “Yes, he is Husain, Razeeul Hikmah (the nursed one of wisdom).” Then he said, “Please give this bier to me and you may go.” Imam Hasan says, “I told him, ‘We cannot do so. Our father made a will to us that we should not entrust his bier to anyone except Jibraeel and Khizr. Who are you, Sir? Please remove your mask that we may know who you are before submitting to you.’” Suddenly the masked person removed his mask and we saw that he was the Victorious Lion of Allah, Ali bin Abi Talib. Then he said these words, “As I am at the bedside of every dying person, should I not be present at my own funeral?”
Harith Hamadani had become very old, bent at the waist and ill. He reached Ali with much difficulty and said how much I desired to look at your beautiful face, O Master! I have come to you from a long distance, as I was deprived of this honor due to my old age and weakness. Ali told him, “O Harith! Everyone who dies sees me. I tell you that you will also see me near Sirat bridge (in the Hereafter). I will be there do distribute Paradise and hell to people. I place the righteous in Paradise and the evil people in hell. If any of my friend is in hell, I fetch him out from the fire.”
Pious souls at the burial of Ali
According to Ali’s will, when they hit the ground with a pickaxe, a ready-made grave and a stone with scripture came up. It was written on it that this is the grave, which has been prepared by Prophet Nuh for a righteous, pious and immaculate, legatee of Muhammad. Finally the body of Ali was laid in that grave. Imam Hasan himself is reported to have said, as mentioned in Mashariqul Anwar, that his father had made a will to him that he should offer two units prayer and then to look in his (Ali’s) grave. Hasan Mujtaba did accordingly. He offered prayer as desired and came to his father’s grave. He saw that the Holy Prophet was present there and so also Adam and Ibrahim.
All of them had arrived to congratulate Ali on getting this blessed destination. Then he looked at the lower side and saw that Fatima Zahra has come with Hawwa (Eve), Maryam Binte Imran and Asiya.
All those whose destination is Paradise had arrived to greet the one who is the possessor of Paradise. All had surrounded the grave of Ali.
Thereafter, they concealed the grave of Ali as per his will. Ali knew about the stone-heartedness of the Umayyads, a viciousness, which surpassed Satan’s. The Umayyads and people like Marwan would dig up his grave and burn his body. So Ali had said: Hide my grave. Accordingly, he arranged three biers. As per one narration, they offered prayer by one bier and took it to show that it would be buried in his house. One bier was sent to the house of Jaadah bin Hubairah showing that it would be buried there and sent one bier to the corridor of the mosque to show that it would be buried there. According to yet another narration, three other biers were prepared and one of them was sent to Baitul Maqdas and the second to Medina and third one to Mecca so that they may fall in doubts.
They created all possibilities but did not reveal Najaf that was about a farsakh (about six kilometers) from Kufa where no such sign was shown. So this holy grave remained concealed from both friends and foes. After the event of Kerbala, Imam Sajjad sometimes showed its location to some distinguished persons like Abu Hamzah Thumali (narrator of the famous Dua). Thereafter, Imam Muhammad Baqir also visited Najaf, sometimes coming from Medina to Najaf and prayed at the holy shrine and made the place known to some close friends.
Then Imam Sadiq gave some dirham coins to Safwan and asked him to purchase some stones and fix them on the grave so that there may be a sign for visitors as till that time the enemies were unable to harm it. Safwan fixed the stones and they elevated the grave a little higher from ground level. Some noble Shias and friends of Ali used to visit the holy Shrine during the days of Imam Sadiq.
Ali’s grave and hunting animals
The cursed Haroon once went out of Baghdad for hunting. He saw some deer in this forest. He released his hunting dogs and eagle to hunt them down. But what he saw was that the hunting animals and birds let off the deer. The fleeing deer reached the hillock where now stands the holy grave of Ali. The deer went there and slept comfortably as dogs returned without harming them and the hunting eagles also did not come down to prey on them. Haroon was amazed. He wondered what had happened? He imagined that it might be an accident. After some time the deer came down hill.
Haroon sent his hunting animals and birds for the second time. But again he saw that the hunting dogs and eagles ran after the deer and the deer once again went to that hillock at the grave of Ali in the protection of Ali. Both Shia and Sunni writers have narrated this event. They include the great Sunni historian Ibn Khallikan. They have recorded that the deer rubbed their faces on the holy grave and took shelter of Ali. Suddenly all the hunting animals and birds returned. Haroon tried a third time and himself went to that hillock to see for himself what the matter was over there. What kind of a shelter house is it where even animals get protected? He asked his men to go round the area and to find out any old man who could throw some light on this affair. They saw a tent from a distance.
There was an old man inside. They brought him out and Haroon asked him, “If you know what is here, tell me about it.” He replied, “I know but am afraid to speak.” Haroon said, “You are safe, do tell me. I only want to know, nothing else.” The old man replied, “We came here along with my father. My father told me that he had come here along with Imam Sadiq.” Haroon made ablution and offered prayer there and provided an enclosure, raised a roof on the holy grave of Ali and made four vaults. The first person who constructed the tomb of Ali was Haroon.
In the year 300 H.E. the late Izzud Daula Dailami went to Najaf and constructed a dome over it. Thereafter he and some other rulers also were instrumental in making the shrine more beautiful. Among them was Nadir Shah.
O Shias of Ali! Ali’s grave is a place of refuge. Any animal going there gets protection. O God! Give our grave a place near it. Put us in Ali’s shelter. Even if our body is not there, kindly make our soul adjacent to it. Join us together. How fine are the words of Shaykh Abbas Qummi in Mafatih when he says:
“More protective than the helper of the locusts”“
More protective than the helper of locusts
This is an Arabic proverb. The story behind it is that an Arab was sitting in his tent in the desert. Suddenly there came a flood of locusts. Some Arabs ran after it to hunt them down for food. These locusts trying to save themselves flew around that tent. The Arab saw that there were innumerable locusts on and around his tent. All had taken shelter at that place. Then he saw that from a distance locust catchers had arrived with all their hunting gear.
The Arab stood up taking up his weapons and warned the locust hunters, “Beware! These locusts are in my refuge. If you raise a hand against them I will respond with my weapons.” They realized that trouble was imminent; that there could be bloodshed due to locusts. So they left. Since then it became popular among Arabs to say: “More protective than the helper of the locusts” when they wanted to praise someone’s zeal and protectiveness. They used to say that so and so is more protective than the one who, that day, helped and protected locusts. How nice has Shaykh Abbas said, “O Ali! We are not lower than locusts. You also cannot be compared with that Arab.”
Radiance of Ali’s grave illuminates the surrounding graves
The late Mulla Fateh Ali has seen in a vision (Mukashifa) that light was flashing out from the holy shrine of Ali and its radiance reached the graves all around and also the houses and pilgrim rest houses. There are numerous graves in Najaf, even in houses. There seldom is a street where there are no graves. They are connected with the rope of radiance extended from the holy grave of Ali. This will make you understand that everyone there is safe.
Tonight is Lailatul Qadr (the Night of Power). Let it be one our wishes to say: O God! Make us fortunate enough to visit Ali’s holy grave and also make our grave near his. One who prays sincerely gets what he wants. If one loves Ali profoundly and sincerely, rest assured that Ali would come to his assistance and free him from his troubles.
How will you ignore friends when you help even the foes! (Persian couplet)
Is it possible that Ali will ignore one who comes into his refuge? We cannot have such opinion about you.
Ali is the sign of God. Ali is the greatest model of God’s good names and attributes. If a sinner looks to God He does not deprive him. A hand extended to Him never returns empty. The virtue of perfection is originally from God. Then it is fully manifested in the fourteen infallibles and then this radiance illuminates everyone else who loves Ali and Ahle Bait in proportion to his love. One of the perfect attributes of God is modesty.
The palm extended towards God is filled up
It is mentioned in Usul al-Kafi that Imam Sadiq says, “When you raise your hands towards God in supplication, may thereafter be passed over your face and chest.” Why? Because God feels it improper to turn a hand that was extended to him empty.
You raise your hand and say: Kindly give! Does He not give? The want should be sober and serious. If you extend your hand with extreme humility it is impossible that God would return it empty. Have Faith that it will be filled.
Let us hope that, at the time of our death, Ali’s eye will be on us. He is the representative of the Merciful God. O God! Make Ali reach us all for assistance, when we are lowered in the grave, let us have the radiance (Noor) of Ali: O Lord! We seek security and Faith in You. Make us among those who testify to Your Messengers.
Once again Husain asks women to be patient
I have said that when they brought the bier of Ali out of the house, women began to weep and cry and wanted to accompany the funeral procession. But Husain prevented them saying, “Please return, be calm and have patience.” Again when, on the day of Ashura he (Husain) bid them final goodbye the women did not allow him to leave. Again he said, “Please return, be patient, do not cry, this not the occasion to cry because the enemy is rejoicing over me.”
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Author: Ayatullah Sayyid Abdul Husayn Dastghaib Shirazi
