An Inspiration Concerning the `Arsh
Do know that concerning the Arsh and its carriers there are different opinions. Similarly the noble narratives outwardly differ, too, although inwardly there is no difference, since, according to the gnostic view and demonstrative way, the Arsh covers so many meanings.
One of its meanings-which I did not see in the language of "the people" [qaum] - is the Unity [hadrat-i wahidiyat], which is on the level of the Holiest Emanation", and its carriers are four names, of the Great Names: The First, the Last, the Outward and the Inward.
Another-which also I did not see in the language of "the people" [qaum] - is the "Holy Emanation", which is on the level of the Greatest Name, and its carriers are: al-Rahman, ar-Rahim, ar-Rabb and al-Malik.
Another one of its concepts is the phrase "all that is other than Allah" [ma siwallah] and its carriers are the four angels: Seraphiel, Gabriel, Michael and Izrael.
Another is the "Universal Body" [jism-i kull], which is carried by four angels who are the images of the Archetypes [arbab-i anwa'], as is referred to in al-Kafi. [452]
Sometimes it is regarded to be the "Knowledge", which may be Allah's Active Knowledge [ilm-i fi`li] which is the state of the great guardianship [wilayat-i kubra] and its carriers are four of Allah's perfect friends from the ancient nations: Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus [peace be upon our Prophet, his progeny and upon them], and four persons of the perfect ones of this nation: the Seal of the Prophets, Amirul Mu'mimn 'Ali, al-Hasan and al-Husayn (AS).
Now, as this introduction has been understood, do know that in the noble surah of al-Hamd [the Opening], after the name "Allah" that refers to His Essence, the four noble names: ar-Rabb, ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim and Malik, are particularly mentioned, maybe because these four noble names are the carriers of the Arsh of His Unity [wahdaniyat] in respect of the inside, while their outer appearances are Allah's four favourite angels who are the carriers of the Arsh of "Realization' [tahaqquq]. So, the blessed name of ar-Rabb is the inside [batin] of Michael, who, as ar-Rabb's manifestation, is in charge of the provisions and the education in the world of existence. The noble name of ar-Rahman is the inside [batin] of Seraphiel, who is the caretaker [munshi] of the spirits, the blower of the Trumpet and the spreader [basit] of the spirits and the images, as the spread [bast] of existence is also in the name of ar-Rahman. The noble name of ar-Rahim is the inside of Gabriel, who is in charge of teaching and perfecting the beings. The noble name of Malik is the inside of Izrael, who is in charge of taking [qabd] the spirits and images, and of returning the outside [zahir] to the inside [batin]. So, the blessed surah, up to "The Owner of the Day of Judgement", includes the Arsh of Unity and the `Arsh of Realization, with reference to its carriers. Thus, the entire circle of existence and the manifestations of the invisible and the visible, which are translated by the Glorious Qur'an, are mentioned up to this part of this surah. This very concept is also entirely covered by the Bismillah, which is the Greatest Name. It is also in the "B" [ba'], which is in the position of causality, and in the dot of bism, which is the secret of the causality. And, as 'Ali (AS) is the secret of guardianship [wilayat] and causality, therefore, it is he who is the dot under the "B" [453] That is, the dot under the "B" is the translator of the secret of guardianship. Contemplate. The reason for contemplation is the difficulty which is in the hadith. And Allah know better!

A Gnostic Notice
Perhaps giving priority to ar-Rabb before stating ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim and then Malik at the end , is a delicate reference to the way of man's journey [suluk] from the material mundane creation up to the complete annihilation, or up to the state of the presence before the Master of the kings. So, as the salik is still at the beginning of the journey, he is gradually being brought up by Rabbul 'أ€lamin [the Lord of the worlds], for he is of the world and his conduct [suluk] is under the control of time and graduation. After leaving the transitory world of nature by the steps of his conduct, the stage of the inclusive names, which do not belong only to the world - in which the aspect of "differentiation" is predominant-is established in his heart. And, as the noble name of ar-Rahman is more particular than the other inclusive names, it is stated then, and, as it is the manifestation of mercy and the stage of absolute spreading, it precedes ar-Rahim, which is nearer to the horizon of the interiority. Hence, in the gnostic conduct, the external names appear first, then after that, the internal names, because the salik's march is from multiplicity [kathrat] to singleness [wahdat], until he ends up to the purely internal names, including the name of Malik. Thus, with the manifestation of Ownership, the multiplicity of the invisible and visible worlds will vanish, and the complete annihilation and Absolute Presence will take place. As he frees himself from the veils of multiplicity with the appearance of unity and Divine Sovereignty, and attains to the visual witnessing, he converses in presence [with Allah] and says: "You do we worship".
Hence, the whole circle of the travelers' journey is also contained in the noble surah, from the last veils of the world of nature up to the removing of all the dark and luminous veils and attaining to the Absolute Presence. This Presence is the salik's great resurrection and the rising of his Hour. In the noble ayah: ... and all who are in the heavens and the earth swoon away, except him whom Allah wills ... ", [454] the exception may be this group of the people of suluk who would swoon away and be annihilated before the Trumpet is blown. By saying: "I and the Hour are like these two" [454a] when joining his two forefingers, the Messenger of Allah (SA) may have referred to this concept.

A Literary Notice
In the current exegeses which we have seen, or which are quoted from, the word "din" is said to mean judgement and reckoning. The lexicons give these meanings, too. The Arab poets have also used it so, such as the poet who says: "Beware that you will be judged as you judge," and there is a saying ascribed to Sahl ibn Rabi'ah stating: "There remained but hostility. We so judged them as they did." [455] It is said that "dayyan", which is one of the Divine Names, denotes this very meaning. Perhaps by "din" the true religion is intended. And as on the Day of Resurrection the results of the religion appear and the religious facts come out from behind the curtain, for this reason it is- called yaumuddin [the Day of Judgement], the same as "today" is called yaumud dunya [the day of this world or the mundane day] on which appear the results of this world, while the true image of the religion is not apparent. This bears a similar concept of Allah's saying: "... and remind them of the days of Allah", [456] which are the days in which Allah treats a nation with force and sovereignty. The Day of Resurrection is a "day of Allah" as well as the "day of religion", since it is the day of the appearance of the Divine Sovereignty and the day of the emergence of the truth of Allah's religion.
Iyyaka na `budu wa 'iyyaka nasta'in [You do we worship; You do we seek help from]: Do know, dear, that when the servant, the salik on the road of knowledge, understood that all thanks and praises exclusively belong to Allah's Sacred Essence, and attributed to Him contraction [qabd] and expansion [bast] of the existence, and regarded the reigns of the affairs, at first and at last, the beginning and the end, to be in the grasp of His Ownership, and the Unity of Essence and of Acts manifested in his heart, he would exclusively confine worship and seeking help to Allah, regard the entire world of realization submitting, willingly or unwillingly, to the Sacred Essence, and recognize no able one, in the world of realization, so as to ascribe to him any help. That which is claimed by some of the people of formalism that to confine worship [to Allah] is real, but to confine seeking help only to Him is not real - by arguing that the help of other than Allah can also be sought, and it is in the Glorious Qur'an: "and help one another in goodness and piety , [457] and also: "and seek help through patience and salat," [458] and it is known that the conduct of the noble Prophet, the Imams of guidance (AS), their companions and the Muslims was based on seeking help from other than Allah in lawful matters, such as getting the help of the beast of mount, the servant, the wife, the friend, the messenger, the worker and the like-is but a talk suitable to the formalists. But the one who has knowledge about the Unity of Acts of Allah, the Exalted, and regards the system of the existence to be a form of the activity of Allah, the Exalted, seeing, either plainly or by rational proof, that there is no effecter in the [world of] existence save Allah, regards, with the eye of insight and luminous heart, confining "seeking help" to be a real confinement, and takes the help of the other beings to be a form of Allah's help. According to what these people say, there is no reason for confining the praises to Allah, the Exalted, since, according to this opinion, other beings also have their behaviours, options, beauty and perfection which deserve praising and thanking. They even say that giving life and death, and providing and creating are some other affairs which are common between Allah and the creatures. The people of Allah regard such matters to be polytheism, and in the narratives they are regarded hidden polytheism, as it is said that [resorting to] turning the ring in the finger to remember something is regarded a hidden polytheism. [459]
In short, "You do we worship and You do we seek help from" is a part of praising Allah, and it is a reference to real monotheism. The one in whose heart the truth of monotheism has not yet appeared, and he has not purged it from polytheism absolutely, his saying "You do we worship" would not be real, and he cannot confine his worship and seeking help to Allah, and he would not be a godly man and a theist. When monotheism manifests in his heart, he will, in proportion to the degree of this manifestation, give up all beings and cling to the Might of the Sanctity of Allah to the extent he sees that "You do we worship and You do we seek help from" takes place by the name of Allah; and some facts of "You are as You praised Yourself'[459a] manifest in his heart.

An Illuminative Notice
The point of changing from the 3rd person to the 2nd has become clear from the statements of this thesis. Although in itself it is one of the ornaments of speech and the characteristics of rhetorics, frequently seen in the speeches of the eloquent orators, and is a decoration to the speeches, and, at the same time, by changing from one mood to another, one removes the addressee's boredom and gives a fresh vividity to his spirit, yet, as the salat is the ascension for reaching the presence of Holiness, and the ladder to the state of intimacy, this noble surah gives the order to start the spiritual ascension and the gnostic journey. The servant, at the beginning of the travel to Allah, is imprisoned and wrapped in the dark veils of the world of nature and in the luminous ones of the invisible world, while the travel to Allah is getting out of these veils by the steps of spiritual conduct. Actually, migration to Allah is turning away from the house of self and from the house of creation to Allah, leaving multiplicities, rejecting the dust of otherness and attaining to the Unities [tauhidat]. It is absence from creation and presence before the Lord. When in the noble ayah "Owner of the Day of Judgement" he finds that multiplicity disappears under the shining light of the Ownership and Omnipotence, he experiences a state of effacement from multiplicity and being present before Allah, the Exalted, and, by personally conversing and witnessing the Beauty and Majesty, he offers himself to servitude, and presents his quest for Allah and his piety to the Sacred Presence and the meeting of intimacy.
The fact that the pronoun iyyaka is used for this purpose is because this pronoun returns to the Essence in which multiplicity is vanished. So, the salik in this situation may have a mood of Unity of Essence, turning away from the multiplicity of names and attributes, and the heart turns towards the Essence that is free from the veils of multiplicity. This is the perfect monotheism which was referred to by the Imam of the monotheists, the head of the gnostics, the leader of the lovers, the pioneer of the attracted and the beloved, Amirul Mu'minin ['Ali], may Allah bless him and his infallible offspring, who said: "The perfect monotheism is the negation of ascribing attribute to Him," [460] as an attribute denotes otherness [ghairiyat] and plurality [kathrat], while this inclination, though to the plurality of Names, is far from the secrets of monotheism and the facts of abstraction. Thus, probably, the secret of Adam's sin was inclination towards the plurality of Names, which was the spirit of the forbidden tree.

A Gnostic Inquiry
Be informed that the literalists show some opinions in respect of "na`budu" [we worship] and "nastain" [we seek help], concerning their being in the first person plural number, whereas the speaker is actually a single person.
They say that, in this connection, a lawful trick has occurred to the worshipper in order to have his worship accepted by Allah, the Exalted. By using a plural pronoun he places his worship among the worshipping of other creatures, among whom, of course, are the perfect ones of Allah's friends whose worship is accepted by Allah, the Exalted, and presents it to the threshold of Holiness and the Court of Mercy, making sure that his worship will, implicitly, be accepted, since it is not of the custom of the Generous to discriminate in the deal.
They also say that as the salat was imposed first in congregation , so it came in the plural.
Talking about the general secret of the adhan and the iqamah we stated a point from which this secret can be recognized to some extent. That is, the adhan is proclaiming that the visible and invisible powers of the salik are ready to be present in His Presence, and the iqamah is to have them stand upright before Him. When the salik; prepared his visible and invisible powers to be present in the Presence, and the heart, which is their leader, stood upright as their Imam, then the salat has been started and "The believer alone is a congregation". [461] So, "na'budu, nasta'in and ihdina" ["We worship", "we seek help" and "guide us"], all would be performed by this congregation in the Holy Presence. In the narrations and the invocations of the pure infallible Ahlul Bayt (AS), who are the source of gnosticism and divine vision, there is a reference to this concept.
Another opinion which occurs to the writer is that the salik regards all the praises and thanks from every praiser and thanker, in the visible and invisible worlds, to be exclusively confined to the Holy Essence of Allah. It is also clearly proved in the proofs of the Imams of proofs, and in the hearts of the gnostics that all the beings in the circle of the existence-worldly and heavenly, big and small - have the life of sensibility and understanding of animality, or rather of humanity, and they praise and glorify Allah, the Exalted, rationally and consciously. It is fixed in the nature [fitrat] of all beings, the human species in particular, to submit to the Holy Presence of the Perfect and the Absolute Beautiful, and their foreheads are on the dust of His Holy Threshold, as is stated in the Glorious Qur'an: "... and there is not a single thing but glorifies Him, but you do not understand their glorification."[462] Other noble ayahs, and narratives of the infallibles, which are full of this divine grace, support this fixed judging proof. So, if the traveler to Allah could find this truth through argumentative reasoning, faithful taste or gnostic vision, he would realize, whatever position he is in, that all the particles of the existence ad the dwellers of the invisible and visible worlds, worship the Absolute Worshipped and seek their Creator. Thus, the plural form [of the pronoun] is used because all beings, in all their movements and stillness, worship the Sacred Essence of Allah, the Exalted, and seek His help.

A Notice and a Point
Know that the reason for giving priority to iyyaka nabudu over iyyaka nasta'in - despite the usual custom that seeking help for worship comes before worship - is that "worship" is prior to "seeking help", not to "helping". Sometimes "helping" happens without "seeking help". Also they say that, as these two are related to each other, advancing or retarding can make no difference, as it is said: "You did observe my due, so, you did me good." or "You did me good, so you did observe my due." Furthermore, seeking help is for future worship, not for present worship. The dullness of these opinions is not concealed from the people of taste [ahl-i dhauq].
Maybe the point is that confining "seeking help" to Allah, the Exalted, comes, according to the state of the travel to Allah, later than confining "worship" to Him. It is quite obvious that a good number of the monotheists in worship, who confine "worship" to Allah, are polytheists in "seeking help" and do not confine it to Allah, as we have already quoted some exegetes who believe that confining "seeking help" to Allah is not real. So, confining "worship" to Allah, in its conventional concept, is of the first states of the monotheists, and confining "seeking help" is an absolute rejection of other than Allah.
It should not be hidden, however, that "seeking help" does not mean to "seek help" only in worshipping, but in all affairs, and this is after rejecting the means and neglecting multiplicities, and completely turning to Allah. In other words, confining "worship" is seeking Allah, wanting Him and giving up turning to other than Him. And confining "seeking help" is seeing Him, and giving up seeing other than Him. This "giving up seeing other than Him" comes, according to the stations of the gnostics and the stages of the saliks, later than "giving up seeking other than Him."

A Gnostic Advantage
O traveling servant, know that confining "worship" and "seeking help" to Allah is also not of the states of the monotheists and perfect stages of the saliks, because it implies a claim contrary to monotheism and abstraction. They even believe that seeing worship, worshipper, worshipped, help-seeker, and the one whose help is sought, and seeking help are contrary to monotheism. In the real monotheism, which appears in the heart of the salik, such multiplicities vanish, and seeing such affairs is effaced. Yes, those who have come to themselves from the invisible attraction and have attained to sobriety, multiplicity does not form a veil for them, because people are of many groups: A group consists of the veiled, such as we, the helpless, who are wrapped in the dark veils of nature.
Another group consists of the saliks, the travelers to Allah, the emigrants to the Court of Holiness.
A third group consists of the united [wأ silأ n], who have come out of the veils of multiplicity and have been engaged with Allah, neglecting all creatures and veiled against them, as they have undergone a complete swoon and an absolute annihilation.
Another group consists of those who have come back to the creatures, and who have the post of completers and guides, such as the great prophets and their successors (AS). Although they are among multiplicity and in charge of guiding the people, multiplicity does not veil them, but it forms an isthmus-like state for them.
Consequently, "iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'in" has different implications in respect of the different groups mentioned above. To us, the veiled, it is a mere allegation and an image. But if we become aware of our veil and recognize our shortcoming, our worship becomes more luminous in proportion to the degree of our awareness of our shortcoming, and becomes, accordingly, accepted by Allah, the Exalted. To the saliks, it is nearer to the truth in proportion to the traveling step. To the united [wأ silأ n], in respect of seeing Allah, it is the truth, and, in respect of seeing multiplicity, it is a mere image and a customary act. To the perfect ones, it is mere truth, and so, they have veil neither against Allah nor against the creatures.

A Faithful Awakening
Do know, dear, that as long as we are in this heavy veil of the world of nature, spending our life on colonizing the world and its pleasures, and being negligent of Allah, the Exalted, of remembering Him and of thinking about Him, all our worshippings, invocations and recitations will contain no truth - neither in al-hamdu lillah [praise is for Allah] we can confine praises to Allah, nor in iyyaka na budu wa iyyaka nasta'in can we find a way to the truth. With these empty claims in the presence of Allah, the Exalted, the favorite angels, the messenger prophets and the infallible guardians, we will be disgraced and humiliated. The one whose tongue of state and speech never stops praising the people of this world, how can he say "All praise is for Allah"? The one whose heart is inclined to nature, and is empty of any divine scent, and whose dependence is on the people, with which tongue can he utter: "You do we worship and You do we seek help from"? So, if you are the man for this field, then tuck up the skirt of determination, and, with intense remembrance and contemplation of Allah's Greatness, and of the creatures' humiliation, inability and poverty, try first to convey the facts and the delicate matters mentioned in this thesis, to your heart, and enliven your heart by remembering Allah, the Exalted, so as to bring to your heart's sense of smell a scent of monotheism, and, with the help of the Unseen, to find a passage to the salat of the people of knowledge. If you are not the man for this field, at least you are to continually remember your faults, pay attention to your humility and inability, perform your duties out of shame and disgrace, and avoid claiming servitude. And these noble ayahs , with whose graces you are not acquainted, recite them either through the tongues of the perfect ones, or consider yourself merely reciting the form of the Qur'an, so that, at least, you may not claim a false allegation.

A Juristic Branch
Some Jurisprudents see that it is not allowed to intend composition [insha] in sentences like iyyaka na`budu wa iyyaka nastain, thinking that it would be a contradiction to the Qur'an and reciting it, since recitation is relating the words of someone else. This talk has no justification, because as one can praise someone with his own words, he can use somebody else's words for the purpose. For example, if we praised somebody using Hafiz's poetry , it would be true that we have praised the intended person, and it would also be true that we have recited Hafiz's poetry. So, if we, by saying "All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds", actually compose all the praises for Allah, and by saying "You do we worship" we compose the confinement of worship to Allah, it will come true that with Allah's words we have praised Him, and with Allah's words we have confined worship to Him. But if somebody emptied the words from their compositional meaning, he would be acting contrary to precaution, if not to say his reciting would be batil [invalid]. However, if someone did not know it, it would not be necessary for him to learn it, as the formal reciting with its own meaning would do.
Some of the noble narratives refer to the fact that the reciter composes, as is in the Holy Hadith: "When he [the servant] says in his salat: `In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful', Allah says: `My servant remembered Me', and when he says: `All praise is for Allah', Allah says: `My servant praised Me' [463] ... etc. If the "bismillah" and "praising" were not composed by the servant, "remembered Me" and "praised Me" would have no meaning. In the hadiths of Mi`raj it is said: "Now that you have arrived, recite My Name" [464] [i.e. say the bismillah]. From the moods of the Imams of guidance (AS) on reciting "The Owner of the Day of Judgement", and "You do we worship", and from their repeating these ayahs, it is clear that they were composing, not merely reciting, like: "Isma'il testifies that there is no god but Allah. [465]
One of the important differences of the ranks of the salat of godly people is due to this very difference in their recitation, as we have already referred to some of it. This, however, would not come about unless the reciter was intending the composition in his recitations and remembrances. Evidences proving this are much more than this. In short, composing these concepts by the divine words is not objectionable.

An Advantage
The linguists say that "worship" means utmost submission and humbleness. They also say that since worshipping is the highest degree of submission, it does not befit except the one who is at the highest degree of existence and perfection, and the greatest of the degrees of grace and benevolence, and as such, worshipping other than Allah is polytheism. Probably, "worshipping"-which in the Persian language means "adoration" and "servitude"-actually implies more than that which has been said, i.e. it is submission to the Creator and the Lord. It follows that such a submission is inseparable from taking the worshipped to be the Diety and Lord, or for example, His semblance and manifestation. Consequently, worshipping other than Allah is polytheism and disbelief. However, absolute submission, without this belief or deciding this meaning, even reluctantly, and even if it reached the utmost submission, would not be a reason for disbelief and polytheism, although some kinds of it are regarded to be haram such as placing the forehead on the dust by way of submission; though this is not worshipping, but it is apparently religiously prohibited. Therefore, the homage paid by the followers of a religion to their religious leaders, believing that they, too, are servants in need of Allah, the Exalted, for everything-for the existence itself and for its perfection-and that they are good servants who, although can have no advantage, harm, life and death for themselves, are, through their servitude, in the proximity of the Court of Allah, the Exalted, and subject to His care, and a means of His grants, cannot be mixed with any blemish of polytheism and disbelief. To respect the favorites of Allah is to respect Him, and "To love Allah's elects is to Love Allah."
Among the groups of "I call Allah to witness, and Allah is sufficient as a witness," the group that is-by the blessing of Ahlul Bayt of revelation and infallibility, the resources of knowledge and wisdom-more excellent in unifying, glorifying and exalting Allah, the Most High, than all other groups of humanity, is the group of the 12-Imam Shi `ahs. Their books of the principles of belief-such as the honourable book of al-Kafi, and the honourable book of at-Tauhid by ash-Shaykh as-Saduq [may Allah be pleased with him]-and speeches and invocations of their infallible Imams, which, in unifying and glorifying Allah, the Most High, are the issues of the said resources of revelation and inspiration, testify that such sciences were unprecedented among humanity, and that no one has glorified and exalted Allah, the Most High, like them, after the holy revelation of the Divine Sacred Book, the Glorious Qur'an, which is written by the hand of the Omnipotent.
Despite the fact that the Shi'ahs, in all countries and times have been following those infallible, pure and monotheist Imams of guidance, and through their explicit reasoning and proofs they have known Allah, glorified and unified Him, yet, some groups, whose heresy is quite clear in their beliefs and books, opened the door of contestation and abuse against them, and, owing to the inner hostility which they had, accused the followers of the infallible Ahlul Bayt of polytheism and disbelief. Although, in the market of knowledge and philosophy, this is worthless, yet its corrupting effect is that the incomplete people and the ignorant and the common, may be driven away from the sources of knowledge towards ignorance and wretchedness. This is a grave crime against humanity which is never retrievable. Concerning this subject, and according to rational and religious criteria, the responsibility of the crime and the sin of this defective, ignorant and helpless group is to be upon the conscience of the unfair who, for their imagined transitory interests prevented the spread of the divine knowledge and precepts, and were the cause of the wretchedness and the adversity of the human species, and rendered all the painful efforts of "the Best of men" [khairul bashar] lost and nill, closing the door of the House of Revelation and the Qur'an in the face of the people. "O Allah, curse them an intense cursing and torture them a painful torment."
"Guide us to the straight path", etc.
Do know, dear, that there is a reference in the noble surah of al-Hamd [the Opening] to the conduct of the people of knowledge and austerity, and up to "You do we worship" it covers the complete journey from creation up to Allah. When the salik proceeds from the Manifestations of Acts to the Manifestations of Attributes, and thence to the Manifestations of Essence, and comes out from the luminous and dark veils, and attends the state of presence and witnessing, there happens complete annihilation and full consumption [istihlak-i kulli]. When the journey to Allah ends by the setting of the horizon of servitude and the rise of the sovereignty of ownership in the "Owner of the Day of Judgement", at the end of this suluk there takes place a state of establishment and stability, and the salik comes to himself, and becomes sober and attentive to his own state, but as a result of being attentive to Allah. This is contrary to the state of returning [ruju] to Allah, for attending to Allah was a result of attending to the creatures. In other words, during the journey to Allah he used to see Allah in the veil of creation, and after returning from the state of complete annihilation, which takes place in the "Owner of the Day of Judgement", he sees the creation in the light of Allah, and thus, he says: "You do we worship" giving priority to the object, the addressee, over himself and his worship. And, as in this position there may be no stability, and slipping can be imagined, he demands his stability and firmness from Allah, the Exalted, and says: "Guide us" which means: make us firm, as was explained.
It must be noted that the said position and the said explanation are for the perfect ones of the people of knowledge. Their first state is that in the state of returning from the journey to Allah, He, the Exalted, becomes their veil against the creation. And their state of perfection is the state of great barzakh [isthmus], in which neither the creation becomes the veil against Allah, such as we, the veiled, nor Allah becomes the veil against creation, such as the eager united, and the attracted annihilated. So, their "Straight path" is this isthmus situation, in the middle between the two creations [worlds] [nash'atayn], and it is the path of Allah. Therefore, "those upon whom You have bestowed favors" are the ones whose aptitude [isti'dad] has been established by Allah, the Exalted, through the manifestation of the "Holiest Emanation" in His knowledge [hadrat-i`ilmiyah], and, after complete annihilation, He has returned them to their kingdom. "Those inflicted by wrath", according to this exegesis, are those who are veiled before the union [wusul], and "Those who have gone astray" are those who have vanished in the Presence [hadrat].
As regards the imperfect ones, if they have not yet started their suluk, these matters will not come true in their respect, and their "path" is the apparent religious form. For this reason "the straight path" is interpreted to mean "religion", "Islam" and the like. If they are of the people of suluk, by "guidance" they mean "showing the way", and by "the straight path" they mean the shortest way of reaching Allah, which is the way of the Messenger of Allah (SA) and Ahlul Bayt (SA), as the exegetes say that it means the Messenger of Allah, the Imams of guidance and Amirul Mu'mimn ['Ali] (AS). In a hadith it is said that the Messenger of Allah (SA) once drew a straight line in the middle and other lines at its sides and said: "This middle straight line is from me" [466] The expression "a middle nation" in the noble ayah "We have made you a middle nation", [467] probably means an absolute middle covering all meanings, including the middle in knowledge and spiritual perfections, which is an isthmus big position and a great middle. For this reason this station belongs to the perfect ones of Allah's friends. That is why it is in the narrative that by this the Imams of guidance (AS) are intended, as Imam al-Baqir (AS) says to Yazid ibn Mu'awiyah al-`Ijli: "We are the middle nation and we are the witnesses of Allah over mankind."[468] In another narrative, he also says: "To us returns the extravagant [ghali] and to us refers the negligent [muqassir]," [469] in which hadith there is a reference to what has been said.

An Illuminative Notice and A Gnostic Illumination
Do know, you who are in quest of Allah and truth, that when Allah, the Exalted, created the system of the existence and the demonstrations [mazahir] of the invisible and the visible, owing to His Essential love to be known in the Names and Attributes, according to the noble hadith: "I was a Hidden Treasure, then I liked to be known, so I created the creatures to become known, [469a] He put a natural love and innovated an inborn longing in the dispositions of all beings, so that by that divine attraction and godly fire of love they may be driven to go in quest of the Absolute Perfection and to long for the Absolute Beautiful. For each one of them He assigned a divine inborn light with which they may find the way to the destination and the objective. These fire and light, the one is the rafraf of arrival [wusul], and the other the buraq of ascension - both were the heavenly mounts of the Messenger of Allah (SA). Perhaps the "buraq and the "rafraf" of the Messenger of Allah (SA) were the means [raqiqah] of this grace [latifah] and the corresponding worldly image [surat-i mutamaththila-i mulkiyah] of this truth, and that is why they were sent down from Paradise, which is the batin [interior, core] of this world.
As the beings have descended in ranks of individuations and have been veiled from the Beautiful Beauty of the Beloved, Glorified His Greatness, Allah, the Exalted, takes them out of the dark veils of individuations and the luminous 1-nesses, by the said fire and light and by the blessed name of "the Guide", which is the reality of these means [raqayiq], so that they may reach the proximity of their Beloved, their Real Objective, through the shortest way. Thus, that light is "the guidance" of Allah, the Exalted, and that fire is the divine "assistance" and the journey is on the shortest path which is the "straight path", since Allah, the Exalted, is on that "straight path". It is probably a reference to this guidance, journey and destination that the ayah says : "There is no living creature but He holds it by its forelock, surely my Lord is on the straight path," [470] as it is clear to the people of knowledge.
It must be noted that every being has its own path, light and guidance: "The ways to Allah are as many as the breaths of the creatures". [471] And, as in every individuation [ta'ayyun] there is a veil of darkness, and in every being and I-ness there is a luminous veil, and as Man is the meeting place [majma] of the phenomena [ta`ayyunat] and the collector of entities [jami `-i wujudat], he is the most veiled of the beings from Allah, the Exalted. The noble ayah: " Then We reduced him to the lowest of the low " [472] is probably a reference to this point. For this reason, the path of mankind is the longest and darkest of all paths. And, as Man's "Lord" is the Greatest Name of Allah, to Whom the external, the internal, the first, the last, mercy, might, and generally, the counter names, all are the same, Man, himself, has to go through the big isthmus stage at the end of his journey, and this is the reason why his "path" is the most delicate of all paths.

A Faithful Notice
As has been said and is known, there are stages and degrees for guidance in respect of the kinds of the journeys of the travelers to Allah and the stages of the suluks of the saliks. We shall briefly refer to some of those stages, so that, meanwhile, the "straight path", the "path of the immoderates" [sirat-i mufritin] and the "path of the extravagants" [sirat-i mufarritin], who are those who have been "inflicted by wrath" and those who have "gone astray", can be distinguished according to each one of the stages.
First is that the light of guidance is inherent, as has already been said in the former "notice". In this stage of guidance, the "straight path" is the suluk to Allah without there being any visible or invisible veil, or it is the suluk to Allah without being veiled with body or heart sins, or it is the suluk to Allah without extravagance [ghuluww] or negligence [taqsir], or it is the suluk to Allah without being veiled with luminous or dark veils, or it is the suluk to Allah without the veils of unity or multiplicity. Probably the ayah" "He causes whom He wills to go astray, and guides whom He wills" [473] is a hint at this stage of guidance and veilings ordained in the Fate [hadrat-i qadar], which, to us, is the stage of Unity [wahidiyat] manifested in the immutable essences [hadarat-i ayan-i thabitah]. Yet, to expand upon this subject is out of the scope of this paper, or it is even beyond the limits of writing it down: "It is one of Allah's secrets and one of Allah's covers." [474]
Second is guidance by the light of the Qur'an, and on its counter side is extravagance or negligence in knowing it, or stopping at its exterior or its interior , as some of the formalists believe that the Qur'anic Sciences are the very conventional and common meanings and the vulgar and positive concepts, and, on he basis of this belief, they do not meditate upon the Qur'an or contemplate it. Their advantage from this luminous Book-which undertakes man's spiritual, bodily, heart and formal happinesses - is confined only to its formal and external instructions. They disregard all those ayahs which enjoin, or recommend, contemplating and remembering the Qur'an and making use of the light of it, by which many doors of knowledge can be opened. It seems as if the Qur'an has been revealed only to invite to the worldly pleasures and animal needs, and just to confirm the station of bestial desires.
Some of the Esoterics [ahl-i batin] think that they should turn away from the external meaning of the Qur'an and its formal calls-which are the instructions of observing the disciplines of being in the divine presence and how to travel to Allah, of which they are unaware. They deviate from the exterior of the Qur'an, deceived by the tricks of the accursed Iblis and the evil-commanding soul, believing themselves to be adherent to its internal sciences, despite the fact that the way to the internal passes through observing the disciplines of the external.
These two groups are, at any rate, out of moderation and are deprived from the light of guidance to the Qur'anic straight path, and are ascribed to extremism on both sides. The researching scholars and the learned scrutinizers should consider both the exterior and the interior and observe the formal and the spiritual disciplines, lighting the external with the light of the Qur'an, and the internal with the lights of knowledge, monotheism and abstraction.
Let the people of literalism [ahl-i zahir] know that to confine the Qur'an to the disciplines of the external forms and a handful of practical moral instructions and common beliefs about tauhid, Names and Attributes, is unobserving the Qur'an's due respect, and regarding the Shari`ah of the Seal of the Prophets (SA) as imperfect, whereas no Shari`ah should be thought to be more perfect than that, as otherwise being the "Seal" would be impossible according to the criterion of justice. So, as the Islamic Law is the Seal of the divine Laws, and as the Qur'an is the Seal of the revealed Books, and the last connection between the Creator and the creatures, the facts of tauhid, abstraction and divine knowledge, which are the original objective and the essential aim of the divine religions, laws and the revealed Books, should represent the last of the stages and the utmost peak of perfection, or else, there must necessarily be a shortcoming in the Law, in which case, it would be contrary to the divine justness and the Lord's kindness, which, in itself, is a dishonorable impossibility and an ugly disgrace, which cannot be washed off the true religions by the seven seas-we take refuge in Allah from that!
Let the Esoterics [ahl-i batin] know that to reach the original objective, the real end, is nothing but purifying the outside and the inside, and without holding to the outer form and the outside one cannot get to the inside. Without wearing the apparel of the outer form of the Shari ah, the way to the inside cannot be found. So, neglecting the outside means invalidating both the outside and the inside of the divine Law. This is one of the tricks of the Satan of the Jinn and Ins. We have explained some aspects of this point in our book "Explanations of Forty Hadiths", as said before.
Third is guidance by the light of the Shar'iah.
Fourth is guidance by the light of Islam.
Fifth is guidance by the light of faith.
Sixth is guidance by the light of certainty.
Seventh is guidance by the light of knowledge ['irfan].
Eighth is guidance by the light of love [muhabbat].
Ninth is guidance by the light of guardianship.
Tenth is guidance by the light of abstraction and monotheism.
Each one of these has the extremes of excessiveness [ifrat] and shortcomings [tafrit], exaggeration [ghuluww] and negligence [taqsir].
To go into details would make it lengthy. The noble hadith in al-Kafi may be a hint at a part, or all, of it. It says: " ... We, the offspring of Muhammad, are the moderate type. The extermist [ghali] would not perceive us, and the follower [tali] would not outstrip us." [475] In a hadith from the Prophet (SA), it is said: The best of this Ummah is the moderate type, with whom the followers catch up, and to whom the extremists return. [476]

A Gnostic Notice
Know that for every being of the invisible and visible worlds, and of this world and the Hereafter, there is a beginning [mabda] and a destination [ma'ad]. Although the divine Ipseity [huwiyat] is the beginning and the destination [marja] of all [beings], the Holy Essence of Allah, the Most High, as He is, would not manifest to the high and low beings without the veil of Names. According to this state, which is a no-state [lamaqami] that has no name and no form, and is not qualified with the Names of Essence, of Attributes and of Acts, no creature has any relation with Him, nor any connection and mixing: "How can there be any comparison between dust and the Lord of the Lords!" [476a]. The details of this have been mentioned in our Misbahul Hidayah. So, the firstness [mabdaiyat] and the originality [masdariyat] of His Sacred Essence are in the veils of Names, and as the Name is the very Named itself ,it is ,at the same time, its veil, too. Therefore, manifestation in the invisible and visible worlds is according to the Names and is veiled by them. For this reason, His Sacred Essence has, in the display [jilwah] of the Names and Attributes, manifestations in His Knowledge [hadrat-i `ilmiyah], whose individuals the people of knowledge call "the fixed entities" [figures emblematic of the Names of Allah = ayan-i thabitah]. Consequently, each nominal manifestation [tajalli] in His Knowledge requires a fixed entity, and each Name has, by the determination [ta`ayyun] of His Knowledge, in the outer world, an appearance [mazhar] whose origin and end are the same Name which is suitable for it; and the return of every being from the world of multiplicity to the invisibility of the Name which is its origin and beginning, is its "straight path". So, every one [of the beings] has a special journey and a special path, as well as a predestined beginning and end, in His Knowledge, willingly or unwillingly. The difference of the appearances [mazahir] and paths is due to the difference of the apparent [zahir] and the Names.
It must be noted that man's "stature" [taqwim] in the highest of the high [a'ala `illiyin] is the collection of Names [jam'-i asma'i]. For this reason he is reduced to the lowest of the low [asfal-i safiin], and his "path" starts from the lowest of the low and ends up in the highest of the high. It is the path of those who are favoured by Allah with an absolute favour [ni'mat], the favour of the perfect collection of the Names, which is the highest of the divine favours. Other paths, whether the paths of the happy [su'ada] and the "favoured ones" [mun'amun `alaihim], or the paths of the wretched [ashqiya], stand at either end of" extravagance or negligence [tafrit], in proportion to how much they lack of the emanation of the Absolute Favour. So, the path of the perfect man alone is that of those who have been absolutely favoured. This path originally is assigned to the holy person of the Seal of the Prophets (SA), and, concomitantly [bittabaiyah], it is confirmed for other holy men [auliya] and prophets. To understand this talk, and [its connection with] the fact that the generous Prophet is the Last Prophet, one needs the understanding of the "Names" and the "Entities" [a'yan], explained in the book Misbahul Hidayah. Allah is the guide to the way of uprightness.

Quotings for Further Information
The dignified Shaykh Baha'i [may Allah sanctify his spirit], in his al-`Urwatul Wuthqa, says: "Although the favours of Allah are too numerous to be numbered by counting, as Allah says: `And if you count Allah's favours, you will not be able to number them," [477] yet, they are of two kinds: the mundane favours and the favours of the Hereafter. Each one of them is either natural or acquired, and each one of them is either spiritual or corporeal. So, they are, all in all, eight kinds:
First: mundane, natural and spiritual, such as: the blowing of the spirit and the emanation of the intellect and comprehension.
Second: mundane , natural and corporeal , such as :the creation of the organs and their powers
Third: mundane, acquired and spiritual, such as: emptying the self from low affairs, and adorning it with pure morals and high faculties.
Fourth: mundane, acquired and corporeal, such as: decorating [the body] with laudable forms and good ornaments.
Fifth: of the Hereafter, natural and spiritual, such as: His forgiving the sins of us, and His being pleased with those of us who have already repented." This is the exact text of the Shaykh in this example. It seems that it is a mistake on the part of the copier. Probably he meant to say that Allah, the Exalted, may forgive us without first repenting. Look it up.
"Sixth:of the Hereafter, natural and corporeal , such as: rivers of milk and honey.
Seventh: of the Hereafter, acquired and spiritual, such as: forgiveness and pleasure [of Allah] preceded by repentance, and as the spiritual pleasure which is concomitant to acts of worship.
Eighth: of the Hereafter, acquired and corporeal, such as: the bodily pleasures which are obtained by the acts of worship.
The intended favour here is the last four kinds, and the things which are the means of attaining to these kinds from the first four kinds." [478] [The end of the Shaykh's talk, may Allah sanctify his spirit.]
Nice as these divisions of the Shaykh are, the most important one of the divine favours, the greatest objective of the noble divine Book, has slipped off the Shaykh's pen. He has satisfied himself with the favours of the imperfect or the medium class. Although in his talk he refers to "spiritual pleasure", yet the spiritual pleasure of the Hereafter which is obtained by the acts of worship is the share of the middle class, if not the share of the imperfect.
Generally, apart from what the Shaykh has said concerning the animal pleasures and the shares of the soul, there are other favours of which three are important: One is the favour of knowing the Essence and the Unity of Essence, whose principle is the suluk to Allah, and its result is the paradise of meeting [Allah]. But if the salik's attention is directed to the result, there can be a default in his suluk because this is the state of abandoning oneself and its pleasures, whereas caring for the result is caring for oneself, and this is worshipping oneself, not Allah. It is multiplication [takthir], not unification [tauhid]. It is a [Satanic] disguise, not abstraction.
Another one is the favour of knowing the Names - a favour which is ramified in as many branches as the multiplicity of the Names. If its items are individually counted, they will amount to a thousand, and if it is taken in its two-name or multi-name compounds, it will be uncountable. "And if you count Allah's favours, you will not be able to number them." [479] The unification of Names, in this state, is the favour of knowing the Greatest Name, which is the state of the " Collective Oneness of the Names "[ahadiyat-i jam `iasma]. The result of knowing the Names is the paradise of Names, [for] each person in proportion to knowing a single Name or many Names, individually or collectively.
The third is the favour of knowing the Acts, which also has infinitely many branches. The state of tauhid in this stage is the Collective Oneness of the manifestation of Acts, which is the state of the "Holy Emanation" and the state of the "Absolute Guardianship". And its result is the paradise of the Acts, which is the manifestations of Allah's Acts in the heart of the salik. The manifestation that happened to Moses, the son of `Imran, when he said: "I see a fire", [480] was probably a Manifestation of Acts, and the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "And when his Lord manifested His glory to the mountain, He made it crumble to dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon," [481] was a Manifestation of Names or of Essence.
Therefore, the path of those "upon whom favour is bestowed", is, in the first place, "the path" of the journey to the Essence of Allah, and the "favour" in that instance is the Manifestation of the Essence. And, in the second place, "the path" is the suluk to the Names of Allah, and the "favour" in that instance is the Manifestation of the Names. And in the third place, the journey is to the Act of Allah, and its "favour" is the Manifestation of the Acts. The people of these states do not seek the common paradises and pleasures, whether spiritual or corporeal. These states, according to some narratives, are confirmed for some believers. [482]

Conclusion
Know that the blessed Surah of al-Hamd [the Opening], as it contains all the stages of existence, it also contains all the stages of suluk and, further, it contains, by way of allusion [isharah], all the objectives of the Qur'an. Plunging deep into these matters, though it needs a complete expansion and a logic other than this one, yet to refer to each one of them is not profitless, or rather it has many advantages for the people of knowledge and certitude.
So, in the first place we say that it is possible that "In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful" is a hint at the entire circle of existence and at the two bows of descension and ascension. So, "Name of Allah" is the state of the Oneness of "contraction and expansion" [qabd u bast]. "The Beneficent" is the state of "expansion and appearance", which is the bow of the descension, and "The Merciful" is the state of "contraction and covertness", which is the bow of the ascension. "All praise is for Allah" is possibly a reference to the world of Might [`alam-i jabarut] and the Higher kingdom, whose realities are the absolute praisings. "The Lord of the worlds" that concerns "education" and "worlds", which is the state of differentiation [sawa'iyat], is probably a reference to the worlds of nature, which, by the substance of essence, move, passing, and are under education. "The Owner of the Day of Judgement" refers to the state of Unity, Omnipotence [qahhariyat] and the return of the circle of existence. Up to here the entire circle of existence, descending and ascending, has been covered.
In the second place we say that the isti`adhah, which is an act of supererogation, can be a reference to forsaking other than Allah, and running away from the Satanic domain. And, as this is a preliminary [stage] to the other states, not a part of them-since abandoning is the preliminary to be adorned [with virtues], and in itself it is not of the states of perfection -therefore, the isti'adhah is not a part of the surah, but a prelude to enter into it. The tasmiyah [the bismillah] may point to the state of the Unity of Acts and of Essence, and joining both together. "All praise is for Allah" up to "The Lord of the worlds" may be a reference to the Unity of Acts. Perhaps "The Owner of the Day of Judgement" is a hint at complete annihilation and Unity of Essence, and from "You do we worship" the state of sobriety and return starts. In other words, isti`adhah is a journey from the creatures to Allah, a coming out of the house of the soul. "Tasmiyah" is a reference to "realizing the love of Allah" [tahaqquq ba haqqaniyat] after taking off creation and multiplicity. "All praise is for Allah" up to "The Lord of the worlds" is a reference to the journey from Ailah, by Allah and in Allah. This journey terminates by "'The Owner of the Day of Judgement". In "You do we worship" the journey from Allah to the creatures begins with the attainment of sobriety and return. This journey ends with "Guide us to the straight path."
In the third place we say that this noble surah contains the main divine objectives in the Qur'an, since the principal objectives of the Qur'an are: the completion of knowing Allah and acquiring the three Unities, the connection between Allah and the creatures, how to travel to Allah, the return of the raqa'iq [the divine means] to the "Truth of the truths" [haqiqatul haqa'iq], introducing the divine manifestations, collectively [jam `-an] and distinctly [tafsil-an], in single [fard-an] and in compound [tarkib-an], directing the creatures, in suluk and in realization [tahaqquq-an], and teaching the servants, in knowledge, practice, gnosticism and vision. All these facts are contained in this noble surah, much brief and short as it is.
Therefore, this noble surah is "The Opening of the Book", "The Mother of the Book" and the general form of the objectives of the Qur'an. And, as all the objectives of the Divine Book return to a single objective, i.e. the truth of monotheism, which is the goal of all prophethood and the ultimate aim of all the great prophets (AS), and the truths and the secrets of monotheism are contained in the noble ayah of bismillah, so, this noble ayah is the greatest of the divine ayahs and contains all the objectives of the Divine Book, as is confirmed by the noble hadith [483]. As the "ba" is the appearance of tauhid, and the dot [484] under it is its secret, the, whole Book, its overt and covert, is in that "ba"'. And the perfect man, that is, the blessed person of 'Ali (AS), is the very dot of the secret of tauhid. [485] There is no ayah in the world greater than that blessed person after the Seal of the Messengers (SA), as is stated in the noble hadith. [486]

Completion
Some noble narratives related about the merit [fadl] of this blessed Surah: The Messenger of Allah (SA) has been quoted to have said to Jabir ibn `Abdullah al-Ansari [may Allah be pleased with him]: "O Jabir, don't you want me to teach you the most merited surah revealed by Allah in His Book?" Jabir said: "O yes, may my father and mother be your ransom, Messenger of Allah, teach me". He, thus, taught him [surah] "al-Hamd", the Mother of the Book. Then he said: "O Jabir, don't you want me to tell you about it?" "Yes, may my father and mother be your ransom, Messenger of Allah, tell me", said Jabir. "It is a cure for every ailment except death", he said. [487]
Ibn 'Abbas related that the Messenger (SA) once said: "For everything there is a foundation. The foundation of the Qur'an is `the Opening' [surah] and the foundation of the `Opening' is bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim [In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful]. [488]
He is also quoted to have said: "The Opening [surah] of the Book is the cure for every illness." [489]
Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (AS) is quoted to have said that if the surah of the Opening did not cure a person, nothing else would cure him. [490]
Imam 'Ali (AS) is quoted to have said that the Messenger of Allah (SA) said: "Allah, the Exalted, told me: `O Muhammad, We have given you sab `ul mathani [another name of the surah of the Opening] and the great Qur'an.' [491] I am graced with a separate favour by the Opening of the Book, which is put on the same level as the Qur'an. Indeed, the Opening of the Book is the most honoured thing in the treasures of the Arsh, and Allah, the Exalted, has bestowed its honour upon Muhammad (SA), sharing no one of the prophets in it, except Solomon, to whom Allah gave the basmalah of the Opening surah, i.e. Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim, as Bilqis says: "An honourable letter has been thrown to me. It is from Solomon, and it is: In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful." [492] So, whoever recites it, believing in loving Muhammad and his offspring, obeying its command and believing in its outside and inside, Allah, the Exalted, will grant him, for each of its letters a favour, which is, in fact, preferred to the whole world and whatever is in it of different kinds of properties and good things. Whoever listens to it being recited will get one-third of that which is given to its reciter. So, let everyone of you increase his share of this blessing offered to him, as it is a chance that you must not be late in taking it, otherwise your hearts will regret it much. , [493]
Imam as-Sadiq (AS) is quoted to have said: "It is no wonder if [the surah of] al-Hamd is recited seventy times over a dead and it comes back to life."[494]
The Messenger of Allah (SA) is quoted to have said: "Whoever recites the surah of `The Opening of the Book' will get the reward of reciting two-thirds of the Qur'an. [495] Another narration says: "It will be like reciting the whole Qur'an." [496]
Ubay ibn Ka`b narrated that: "I recited to the Messenger of Allah (SA) the surah of the Opening. He said: "By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, Allah did not reveal in the Torah, nor in the Gospel, the Psalm or the Qur'an a surah like The Opening of the Book, It is ummul kitab [The Mother of the Book] and as-sab'ul mathani [the repeated seven [ayahs]]. It is divided between Allah and His servant, and it is for His servant to demand whatever he wants. , [497]
Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman [may Allah be pleased with him] is quoted to have said that the Messenger of Allah (SA) said: "Allah, the Exalted, may send an inevitable punishment upon a nation. Then one of their children recites: `All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds', in the Book of Allah. On hearing this, Allah, The Most High, postpones torturing them for forty years." [498]
Ibn 'Abbas said that once they were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (SA) when an angel came and said: "Good tidings to you for the two lights which have been given to you, and never given to the prophets before you. They are `The Opening of the Book' and the seals of the surah of al-Baqarah .No one recites a single word of them unless his demand is granted." [499] This narrative is also related in al-Majma `, with nearly the same content. [500]
Notes:
[394]. Refer to footnote No. 382.
[395]. This aspect of the meaning of the Bismillah is stated by Mubyiddin ibn al-`Arabi in his al-Futuhatul Makkiyah, vol. 1, p. 102.
[396]. Usulul Kafi, vol. 1, p. 149, "Book of at-Tauhid", ch. on "The Will Is Among the Attributes of Action...", hadith 4. Biharul Anwar, vol. 4, p. 145.
[397]. Mir'atul `Uqul, vol. 2, p. 19. Al-Wa-fi, vol. 1, p. 100.
[398]. Al-Wafi, vol. 1, p. 100, chs. on "Knowing His Attributes and Names, the Glorified," ch. on "The Attributes of the Act," explanation of hadith No. 4.
[399]. Usulul Kafi vol. 1, p. 196. "Book of at-Tauhid", ch. "Rarities", hadith 4.
[400]. From the noble invocation called Du`a'us-Simat, Misbahul Mutahajjid, p. 376.
[401]. Surah al-A'raf: 143.
[402]. Extracted from the dud' of as-Simat, Misbahul Mutahajjid, p. 376.
[403]. Surah Ta-Ha: 14.
[403a]. Refer to footnote No. 219.
[403b]. Refer to footnote No. 220.
[404]. "So he was at the measure of two bows or closer still". Surah an-Najm: 9.
[405]. Refer to footnote No. 199.
[406]. The exegesis of Du a'us-Sahar is of the exudations of the pen of Imam Khomeini (may Allah be pleased with him) in Arabic. The aim of writing it, as the exegete himself says, was to explain some aspects of the noble invocation called "mubahilah". (The invocation of Sahar has been narrated from the pure Imams [AS]). The writing of this noble book was completed in 1349, L.H.
[407]. Surah an-Nur: 35.
[408]. Surah az-Zukhruf: 84.
[409]. Majma'ul Bayan, vol. 1, p. 21, quoting Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (AS), with a slight difference.
[410]. Ma'aniyul Akhbar, p. 3. Bi`tarul Anwar, vol. 89, p. 229.
[411]. Usulul Kafi, vol. 4, p. 340, the "Book of the Invocation", ch. on "Invoking on Calamities", hadith 6. As-Sahifah as-Sajjadiyah, Invocation No. 54.
[412]. Surah al-A'raf: 156.
[413]. `Ilmul Yaqin, vol. 1, p. 57.
[414]. Ad-Durrul Manthur fi-Tafsir Bilmaa'thur, by Jalaluddin as-Suyuti, vol. 1, p. 9, quoted from al-Asna' was-Sifait, by al-Bayhaqi.
[415]. A current proverb. Asrarul Hikam, by Sabzawari, p.52.
[416]. Surah al-Humazah: 6 and 7.
[417]. In the Name of Allah. It must be noted that confining all praisings, or the quality [jins] of praising, to the two possibilities in the "a" [alif] and "l" [lam] is contrary to the philosophic causality, even if the causality is taken by its strict meaning, and it cannot be ,justified except by the tongue of the Qur'an and the gnosticism of the holy men [auliya'] (AS).
[418]. This is a reference to a line of poetry by Maulawi, which has previously been explained.
[419]. This refers to a line of poetry by Hafiz, in which he says: "I did not reach the far-away palace of the phoenix (of truth) by myself; I could cover it only by the help of Solomon's bird (the hoope)". i. e. the guide of wisdom.
[420]. A reference to ayah 12 of the surah Ta-Ha: "... put off your shoes, you are in the sacred valley..."
[421]. In some copies we find the word akhass (whose English equivalent is "most special"). In some other copies it is akhass (which means "the meanest"). The line is by Maulawi.
[422]. Misbahush-Shari`ah, ch. 5. Awalyul La'ali, vol. 1, p. 389.
[423]. Usulul Kafi, vol. 3, p. 152, "Book of Faith and Disbelief', ch. on "Thanking", hadith No. 18.
[424]. Biharul Anwar, vol. 90, p. 210, quoted from al-Amali by at-Tusi, vol. 1, p. 18.
[425]. Mustadrakul Wasa'il, printed by Alul Bayt Establishment, vol. 5, p. 314.
[426]. Makarimul Akhlaq, p. 307, section 10, ch. 3 on praising Allah (with a slight difference).
[427]. Reference untraceable.
[428]. Insha'ud-Dawa'ir, p. 28.
[429]. Surah al-Hashr: 22.
[430]. "In every thing He has a sign Proving that He is One." Kashful Asrar, by Maybudi, vol. 1, p. 436. Some ascribe this verse to the Arab poet, Abul `Atahiyah.
[431]. Poetry by Maulawi.
[432]. `Ilmul Yaqin, vol. 1, p. 381.
[433]. Surah Ta-Ha: 41.
[434]. Ibid: 13.
[435]. Surah al-Ghashiyah: 25.
[436]. `Uyunu Akhbarir-Rida, vol. 2, p. 272. al-Jami`ah al-Kabirah invocation.
[437]. Surah al-Ghashiyah: 25 and 26.
[438]. Surah Hud: 56.
[439]. Masari'ul Masari', by Khajah Nasiruddin, edited by Mu'izzi, p. 141.
[440]. The lover's religion is other than that of the others, The lovers' religion and creed is Allah. (Maulawi)
[441]. Such as: "Recite as the people recite" or "Recite as you have learnt." Wasa'ilush-Shi'ah, vol. 4, p. 821, "The Book of as-Salat", ch. on "Recitation in the Salat" ch. 74, hadiths 1-3.
[442]. Apparently, recitation according to any one of the ways of the recitations is unanimously agreed upon.
[443]. Surah al-Waqi'ah: 85.
[444]. Surah Qaf: 16.
[445]. Surah Nur: 35.
[446]. Surah Zukhruf: 84.
[447]. Surah al-Baqarah: 107.
[448]. `Ilmul Yaqin, vol. 1, p. 54.
[448a]. Usulul Kafi, vol., p. 170, "Book of at-Tauhid", ch. on "Movement and Mobility", hadith 3.
[449]. Ibid., hadith 4.
[450]. Surah al-Ghafir: 16.
[451]. Surah ash-Shora: 7.
[452]. Usulul Kafz, vol. 1, pp. 131 and 132.
[453]. Al Asjaarul Arba `ah, vol. 7, p. 32. Asrarul Hikam, p.559.
[454]. Surah az-Zumar: 68.
[454a]. Al-Asha `athtyat, p. 212, ch. on "What Necessitates Patience". Biharul Anwar, vol. 2, p. 39, "Book of Knowledge", hadith 72. From Useful Assemblies
[455]. "When evil appeared, in the morning and in the evening, naked, And there remaind but hostility, We so judged them as they did." Poetry by Sahl ibn Shayban, Jami`ush-Shawahid, ch. on "F and L", p.185.
[456]. Surah Ibrahim: 5.
[457]. Surah al-Ma'idah: 2.
[458]. Surah al-Baqarah: 45.
[459]. Abu `Abdullah as-Sadiq (AS) said: "The (hidden) polytheism is stealthier than the crawling of the ants." He also said: "... of it is (resorting to) turning the ring to remember a thing, and the like". Ma'aniyul Akhbar, p. 379, ch. on "Rare Meanings", hadith 1. Biharul Anwar, vol. 69, p. 96.
[459a]. Refer to note No. 219.
[460]. Usulul Kafi, vol. 1, p. 191, "Book of Monotheism" ch. on "General Hadiths on Monotheism", hadith 6.
[461]. Wasa'ilush-Shi`ah, vol. 5, p. 379, "Book of as-Salat", chs. on "Congregational Salat", ch. 4, hadiths 2 and 5.
[462]. Surah al-Isra': 44.
[463]. Biharul Anwar, vol. 92, p. 226. Muslim's Sahih, vol 2, p. 92, with a slight difference in words.
[464]. `Ilalush-Shara'i`, p. 315, of the hadith "The Salat of al-Mi`raj.
[465]. This is a sentence which, according to narration, Imam as-Sadiq (AS) wrote on the shroud of his deceased son. It is said that a group of the Muslims, called the Akhbaris, who used to literally apply the texts of the akhbar [hadiths], used to write this very sentence on the shrouds of their deceased. Wasa'ilush-Shi ah, "Book of Purity", chs. on "Shrouding" ch. 29, hadith 2.
[466]. A nearly similar narrative is related in Ilmul Yaqin, vol. 2, p. 967.
[467]. Surah al-Baqarah: 143.
[468]. Usulul Kafi, vol. 1, p. 270, "The Book of Divine Proof', ch. "The Imams are the Witnesses of Allah over His Creatures", hadith 2.
[469]. Al-Ayyashi's Exegesis, vol. 1, p. 63, hadith 111.
[469a]. Asrarul Hikam, p. 20.
[470]. Surah Hud: 56.
[471]. A hadith ascribed to the Messenger of Allah (SA). Jami'ul Asrar wa Manba'ul Anwar, by Sayyid Haydar Amuli, pp.8, 95 and 121. Lahiji's Commentary on Gulshan-i Raz, p. 153. Naqdun-Nusus, p. 185. Minhajut-Talibin, p. 221. Al-Usulul Asharah, p. 31.
[472]. Surah at-Tin: 5.
[473]. Surah an-Nahl: 23, and Surah al-Fatir: 8.
[474]. Ascribed to Amirul mu'minin ['Ali] (AS). At-Tauhid, p. 383, ch. on "Fatalism", hadith 32.
[475]. Usulul Kafi, vol. 1, p. 136, "Book of Monotheism", ch. on "Forbidding any Attribute...", hadith 3.
[476]. Lisanul Arab, entry namat (type), vol. 7, p. 417, quoting Imam 'Ali (AS).
[476a]. `Afif 'Asayran, the editor of the book, "Preliminaries" of `Aynul Qudat, on page 276 of that book, has put it as a hadith. Asrarul Hikam by Sabzawari, p. 23.
[477]. Surah Ibrahim: 34. Surah an-Nahl: 18.
[478]. Al-'Urwatul wuthqa, p. 38.
[479]. Surah Ibrahim: 34.
[480]. Surah Ta-Ha: 10. Surah an-Naml: 7. Surah al-Qasas: 29.
[481]. Surah al-A'raf: 143.
[482]. Biharul Anwar, vol. 77, p. 23.
[483]. Ibid., vol. 92, p. 238. Three hadithes are narrated in this respect.
[484]. There may be an objection to our saying: the dot under the [ba'], that in the Kufi penmenship which was common when the Qur'an was revealed, there were no dots (in the alphabet). To this, one may say that this fact and reality will make no difference, although its role appeared late, which, in fact, had no effect on the facts. Rather, there is not a decisive evidence in support of the said claim. Mere convention is not a proof of absolute non-existence. So, think it over!
[485]. "I am the dot under the bal", Asrarul Hikam, p. 559.
[486]. As-Safi's Exegesis, vol. 2, p. 779, commenting on the noble ayah: "About the great event" (Surah an-Naba': 2].
[487]. Al-Ayyashi's Exegesis, vol. 1, p. 20, hadith 9.
[488]. Majma'ul Bayan, vol. 1, p. 17.
[489.] Ibid.
[490]. Al- Ayyashi's Exegesis, vol. 1, p. 20, Biharul Anwar, vol. 89, p. 237, hadith 34.
[491]. Surah al-Hijr: 87.
[492]. Surah an-Naml: 29 and 30.
[493]. `Uyunu Akhbarir-Rida, vol. 1, p. 301, under the title: "Concerning the Different Narratives Quoted from Imam 'Ali ibn Musa", hadith 60. Biharul Anwar, vol. 89, p. 227, hadith 5.
[494]. Nuruth-Thaqalayn Exegesis, vol. 1, p. 4, commenting on the surah of al-Hamd, hadith 8.
[495]. Biharul Anwar, vol. 89, p. 259. Majma `ul Bayan, vol. 1, p. 17.
[496]. Ibid.
[497]. Majma `ul Bayan, vol. 1, p. 17.
[498]. At-Tafsirul Kabir, vol. 1, p. 178.
[499]. Mustadrakul wasa'il, "Book of as-Salat", chs. on "Recitation", ch. No. 44, hadith 3.
[500]. Majma'ul Bayan, vol. 1, p. 18.