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Even if God had not warned those disobedient to Him of chastisement,
it was obligatory by way of gratefulness for His favours that He should
not be disobeyed.
My God, I have not worshipped Thee out of fear of Thy Hell and out of
greed for Thy Paradise; but I found Thee worthy of worship, and so I worshipped
Thee.
God's Remembrance:
The roots of all spiritual, moral, and social aspects of worship lie
in one thing: the remembrance of God and obliviousness towards everything
else. In one of its verses, the Holy Quran refers to the educative and
invigorating effect of worship, and says:
The salat protects from unseemly acts. (29:45)
Adhere to salat in order that you remain in My remembrance.
(20:14)
This is a reminder of the fact that the person who prays remembers God
and lives by the knowledge that He is always observing and watching him,
and does not forget that he himself is His servant.
The remembrance of God, which is the aim of worship, is burnishing of
the heart and an agency of its purification. It prepares the heart for
the reflection of Divine Light in it. Speaking of the remembrance of God
and the meaning of worship, 'Ali ('a) says:
Certainly God, the glorified, has made His remembrance burnishing of
the hearts, which makes them hear after deafness, see after blindness,
and makes them submissive after unruliness. In all periods and times when
there were no prophets, there were individuals to whom He spoke in whispers
through their conscience and intellects.
These sentences speak of the wonderful effect of Divine remembrance
on the heart, to the extent of making it capable of receiving Divine inspiration
and bringing it in intimate communion with God.
Levels of Devotion:
In the same sermon are explained the various spiritual states and levels
attained by the worshippers in the course of their devotional search. 'Ali
('a) describes such men in these words:
The angels have surrounded them and peace is showered upon them. The
doors of heavens are opened for them and abodes of blessedness, of which
He had informed them, have been prepared for them. He is pleased with their
struggle and admires their station. When they call Him, they breathe the
scent of His forgiveness and mercy.
Nights of the Devout:
From the point of view of the Nahj al-balaghah, the world of
worship is another world altogether. Its delights are not comparable with
any pleasures of the three-dimensional corporeal world. The world of worship
effuses movement, progress, and journey, but a journey which is quite unlike
physical travel to new lands. It is spiritual journey to the 'nameless
city'. It does not know night from the day, because it is always drenched
in light. In it there is no trace of darkness and pain, for it is throughout
purity, sincerity, and delight. Happy is the man, in the view of the Nahj
al-balaghah, who sets his foot into this world and is refreshed by
its invigorating breeze. Such a man then no longer cares whether he lays
his head on silken pillow or on a stone:
Blessed is he who discharges his duties towards his Lord, and endures
the hardships they entail. He allows himself no sleep at nights until it
over whelms him. Then lies down with the palm of his hand under head as
his pillow. He is among those whom the thought of the Day of Judgement
keeps wakeful at nights, whose beds remain vacant, whose lips hum in God's
remembrance and whose sins have been erased by their prolonged earnest
supplication for forgiveness They are the 'Party of God'; "surely God's
Party-they are the prosperers!"
The nights of the men of God are like shiny days,
The gloomy nights do not exist for the enlightened.
The Profile of the Pious:
In the last section we discussed the viewpoint of the Nahj al-balaghah
with respect to worship. We found that the Nahj al-balaghah does
not regard worship as a series of cut-and-dried, lifeless rituals. The
bodily movements constitute the apparent body of worship, while its soul
and meaning is something else. Only when endowed with meaning and spirit
is worship worth its name. Real worship means transcending the three-dimensional
world into the spiritual sphere, which is a world of perpetual delight
and sublimation for the soul and the source of vigour and strength for
the heart, which has its own pleasures.
There are many references to the characteristics of the pious and the
devout in the Nahj al-balaghah. Often the Nahj al-balaghah
sketches the profiles of the pious and the devout and describes their characteristic
fear of God, their devotion and delight in worship, their constant sorrow
and grief over sins and frequent reciting of the Quran, and their occasional
ecstatic experiences and states which they achieve in the course of their
worshipful endeavours and struggle against their corporeal self. At times
it discusses the role of worship in lifting from the human soul the pall
of sins and black deeds, and often points out to the effect of worship
in curing moral and psychic diseases. At other times it speaks about the
unadulterated, unsurpassable and pure delights and ecstasies of the followers
of the spiritual path and sincere worshippers of God.
Night Vigils:
During the night they are on their feet reciting the verses of the Quran
one after the other, tarrying to deliberate about their meaning, and thereby
instilling gnostic pathos into their souls and by means of it seek remedy
for their spiritual ailments. What they hear from the Quran seems to them
as if they are witnessing it with their own eyes. If they come across a
verse arousing eagerness (for Paradise) they lean towards it covetingly
and their souls cling to it avidly as if they are approaching their ultimate
goal. And when they come across a verse that instills fear, their heart's
ear is turned in attention to it as if they themselves hear the cracking
sound of the flames of Hell Fire. Their backs are bent in reverence and
their foreheads, palms, knees and toes rest on the ground as they beseech
God for deliverance. But when the day dawns, they are kind, patient, scholarly,
pious and righteous.
The Spiritual Experience:
He has revived his intellect and slain his self, until his body became
lean and its bulkiness shrunk, and stubborness turned into tenderness (of
heart). Then an effulgence, like a thunderbolt, descended his heart and
illuminated the path before him, opening all the doors, and led him straight
into the gateway of Peace. Now his feet, carrying his body, are firmly
rooted in the position of safety (on the Sirat) and comfort because
he kept his heart busy with good deeds and won the good pleasure of his
God.
As we observe, this passage speaks of another kind of life, which is
called 'the life of intellect'. It speaks about struggle against
the carnal self (al-nafs al-'ammarah) and its destruction; it speaks
about exercise of the spirit and the body, about lightening, which as a
result of exercise illumines the being of the follower and brightens his
spiritual world; it speaks about the stages and targets that the devotee's
earnest soul reaches on his way until it attains the last and highest stage
of man's spiritual journey. The Quran says:
O man! Thou art labouring unto thy Lord laboriously, and thou shalt
encounter Him. (84:6)
'Ali ('a), in the passage cited above, speaks about the inner peace,
contentment and tranquillity of soul which a man's restless, disturbed
and anxious heart ultimately attains:
Indeed, the hearts are at rest in God 's remembrance. (13:28)
In the sermon 228, 'Ali ('a) describes the significance attached by
this class of devotees to spiritual life-the life of the heart:
They see that the worldly people attach great importance to the death
of their bodies but they themselves attach much greater importance to the
death of hearts of those who are living. (Sermon 230)
'Ali ('a) describes the ecstatic eagerness of the earnest souls which
impels them to move onwards on the path of spiritual perfection in these
words:
They lived in society and participated in its affairs with their bodies,
while their souls rested in the higher spiritual spheres.
Had there been no preordained time of death for each of them, their
spirits would not have remained in their bodies even for the twinkling
of an eye because of their eagerness for the Divine reward and their fear
of chastisement.
He did everything only for God, and so God also made him His own.
The esoteric knowledge and emanated insight, revealed to the heart of
the follower of the spiritual path as a result of self-education and self-refinement,
is described in these words:
The knowledge that bursts upon them and surrounds them is endowed with
absolute certainty, and their soul attains the highest degree of conviction.
They easily bear what the easy-going regard as harsh and unbearable. They
endear what makes the ignorant recoil with horror.
Purging of Sins:
From the point of view of Islamic teachings, every sin leaves a black
stain and the effects of distortion in the human heart which in turn weakens
a person's aptitude for good and righteous actions, and consequently further
deviates him towards other sins and foul deeds. On the other hand, worship,
prayer and remembrance of God, develop a human being's religious consciousness,
strengthen his aptitude for virtuous deeds and diminish his proneness to
sin. This means that worship and remembrance of God efface the mal-effects
of sins and replace these with fondness for virtue and goodness.
In the Nahj al-balaghah there is a sermon which deals with salat,
zakat and delivering of trust; after emphasizing the importance
of salat, 'Ali ('a) further says:
Certainly, prayer removes sins like autumn strips leaves off from trees,
and it liberates you from the rope (of sins) tied around your neck. The
Prophet ('s) likened it to a refreshing stream at one's door in which one
takes a purifying bath five times in a day and night. Will after so much
cleansing any dirt remain on him?
Moral Remedy:
In the sermon 196, after referring to evil conduct such as disobedience,
oppression, injustice and pride, 'Ali ('a) says:
It is on account of these perils that God has encouraged His believing
servants to perform salat and zakat, to keep fast during
the days when it is made obligatory; these acts of worship give their limbs
peace and rest, cast fear in their eyes, soften their spirits, cultivate
a sense of humility in their hearts and purge them from pride.
Intimacy and Ecstasy:
My God, Thou, of all beloved ones, art the most attached to Thy lovers
and most ready to trust those who trust in Thee. Thou seest, Thou lookest
into their secrets and knowest that which lies in their conscience and
art aware of the extent of their inner vision. Consequently their secrets
are open to Thee and their hearts look up to Thee in eager apprehension.
In loneliness, Thy remembrance is their friend and consolation. In distress
Thy help is their protection.
There are some people devoted to remembrance of Allah who have chosen
it in place of all worldly goods.
In the sermon 148, 'Ali ('a) alludes to the coming times of the Promised
al-Mahdi ('a)-may God hasten his appearance-and at the end of his discourse
describes the courage, wisdom, insight and
Then a group of people will be made ready by God like the swords sharpened
by the blacksmith. Their sight would be brightened by revelations the inner
meaning of the Quran would be familiar to their ears and they would be
given to drink the cup of wisdom every morning and evening.
Notes:
Nahj al-balaghah, Hikam,
No. 237
Ibid, Hikam, No.
290
Source of reference not indicated
(Tr.)
Ibid,. Khutab,
No. 222
Ibid,. p. 343
Ibid,. Rasail,
No. 45
Ibid,. Khutab,
No. 193
Ibid,. Khutab No.
220
Ibid, Khutab No.
230
Ibid, Hikam,
No. 147
Ibid, Khutab
No. 193
Ibid, Khutab
No. 87
Ibid, Hikam,
No. 147
Ibid, Khutab
No.199
Ibid, Khutab
No.227
Ibid, Khutab
No.222
Ibid, Khutab
No.150
